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Totally and utterly Netflixated

Isn't Netflix amazing?

We love Netflix. On the day it launched it turned the model for consuming film and TV shows on its head. And it continues to be a genuine pioneer – from making waves in the creation of original programming to its recent announcement that the service has gone truly global, reaching 190 countries.

We applauded the latter news loudly. After all, HMA! is all about a free and open internet.

We believe deeply that net neutrality is the only sane path forward, and believe the right of people to freely associate, speak, and access information, including politically sensitive news and video feeds from around the world is vital. We also believe in everyone’s right to encrypt their local connections and protect their privacy, wherever and whenever they browse.

Netflix and VPNs: what's the deal?

Recently, Netflix made an announcement which propelled VPNs into headlines the world over. Just in case you’ve been holidaying in the International Space Station (looking at you, Major Peake) or in North Korea and missed this one entirely, Netflix announced: “Some members use proxies or “unblockers” to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do. This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it. That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are.”

Our Chief Operating Officer, Danvers Baillieu responds: “Customers use our VPN to help stay safe and private online, and we believe people should be no less safe and private simply because they might be streaming video. We’d like to reassure those customers that we haven’t seen any degradation in quality of service and we’re not aware of customers experiencing any issues. Nor is this the first time we’ve unfortunately heard a brand say that it will clamp down on VPN usage, notwithstanding the risk doing so puts on its users. As a fellow pioneer in internet freedom and champion of net neutrality we look forward to the day when people around the world can all have equal access to information without censorship or risk of throttling by an ISP. And Netflix’s ultimate goal of offering the same service to everyone, everywhere would be a huge step in the right direction. Until then, we don’t expect any major disruption.”

HMA! does not monitor or record the websites our customers visit – we believe in your privacy. But HMA! has and always will advise users to respect the terms of service for any websites they choose to visit, regardless of whether they are on or off VPN. This does not diminish our firm belief that people are entitled to experience the internet without having to stress about personal data security. So worry not, our VPN remains the best way to do that.

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